Dorm room video goes viral, campus police conduct questioned

Students and department debate about fourth amendment rights in dorm rooms

By PoliceOne Staff

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A student at the University of Kentucky Lexington is claiming campus police violated his Fourth Amendment rights, with video going viral of several officers entering his room without consent on Saturday.

The student used his laptop to record a confrontation between himself and officers after he allegedly dumped alcohol out of his dorm room window.

After insulting the officers and using profanity in an exchange lasting nearly seven minutes, one officer pushes the door open and enters the dorm room. Off camera, the officer also opens the student’s fridge, but finds nothing, according to CampusReform.org.

“Listen man, do you want to be kicked out of this university?” one officer is heard asking. “I can pave that road.”

Police are questioning whether the university-owned dorm rooms protect a student’s rights the way a rented apartment would.

Official university policy states that police officers may not search a student’s dorm room without permission.

The university’s official residence policy, available online, does allow administrators and police to enter student’s dorm rooms for a variety of reasons but seems to bar warrantless searches.